Day 2 of the Unified Volleyball World Cup in the Books – Up Next

Photo by Iñaki Esnaola

Day 2 of competition at the Special Olympics Unified Volleyball World Cup in Katowice, Poland from 5-8 October brought a mix of emotions for all 16 competing teams as some rose to the top of their groups and others fell.

Four teams remain undefeated after the first two days of group stage play with Special Olympics Poland (Men’s/Mixed) leading Group A and Special Olympics Slovakia (Men’s/Mixed) leading Group B, both teams sitting at 3-0. Special Olympics UAE (Women’s) is topping Group C 2-0 while Ukraine also sits atop Group D at 2-0.

The final four matches of the group stage will be played Tuesday morning and the outcomes of those will determine the full list of teams who will be moving on to the playoffs and then the final rounds.

Highlights of Monday’s competition were hard to narrow as multiple teams shone in very different aspects and areas of the game. On the women’s side, Mongolia’s technicality and precision made them a force to be reckoned with as they played a very sophisticated style of the game that proves to be a working system for the team. Mongolia sits at 1-1 in their group with a win over Serbia (2:0) and a loss to Ukraine (0:2).

Equally impressive were the Special Olympics UAE women whose physical strength and toughness was hard to challenge. The squad’s outside left hitter, #7 Amal Albalooshi, set the tone for her team when facing Special Olympics Namibia after she defied gravity getting her hand up and over the net blasting the ball straight into the wood of Namibia’s half giving them no chance of a return. UAE has wins over Italy (2:0) and Namibia (2:0).

For the men’s/mixed, Special Olympics Iraq played two intense matches on Monday, one against Special Olympics Serbia and the other against Special Olympics Poland. During the matchup with Serbia, Iraq’s #10 Waseem Almsgoon made a big play when he rapidly dove for a pancake which his teammates capitalized on to launch the ball back over the net earning them a point. After a forced three sets, Iraq came out victorious over Serbia (2:1).

The team later went on to face host team Special Olympics Poland where they lost in two sets (0:2). The skill and cohesion displayed by Poland only further exemplifies their team’s high-level knowledge of the game and ability to work together in intense, high stakes settings.

Photo by Iñaki Esnaola

** IND is Bharat (India) **

Coming up on Tuesday, 7 October:

9:00 CEST:

• Special Olympics Italy vs. Special Olympics Namibia – Court #1
• Special Olympics Kenya vs. Special Olympics Mongolia – Court #2

10:30 CEST

• Special Olympics Bharat (India) vs. Special Olympics UAE – Court #1
• Special Olympics Ukraine vs. Special Olympics Serbia – Court #2

12:00 CEST

• Special Olympics Poland vs. Special Olympics Saudi Arabia – Court #1
• Special Olympics Serbia vs. Special Olympics Austria – Court #2

13:30 CEST

• Special Olympics Slovakia vs. Special Olympics Iraq – Court #1
• Special Olympics Finland vs. Special Olympics USA – Court #2

15:00 CEST

• 1^st Team of Group C vs. 2^nd Team of Group D – Court #1
• 3^rd Team of Group C vs. 4^th Team of Group D – Court #2

16:30 CEST

• 1^st Team of Group D vs. 2^nd Team of Group C – Court #1
• 3^rd Team of Group D vs. 4^th Team of Group C – Court #2

Follow along with the action live on Special Olympics and Special Olympics Poland’s YouTube channels.